Zhou Yang, the winner of the 2006 World Junior Pole Vault title in Beijing (© Getty Images)
The Chinese Olympic Trials continued on Saturday (28) in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, with some better results than had been seen during the rainy conditions of day one on Friday (27). Today’s competition was carried out mostly in cloudy weather and saw some new additions were seen to the Chinese team for this summer’s Olympic Games.
The best results were achieved again by young athletes. 20-year-old Zhou Yang, the 2006 World Junior champion, set a personal best 4.45m to win the Pole Vault and booked her seat on the Olympic team. Zhao Yingying was second tying her season’s best 4.30m today.
Zhou will be joined in the Olympic squad by Asian record holder (4.64m 2007) Gao Shuying and 18-year-old Li Ling who has achieved the A-standard 4.45m both indoors and outdoors this season.
Two more long jumpers over 8m
Today’s men’s Long Jump was won by a junior like the women’s event yesterday. 19-year-old Weng Yongfeng, who made huge progress couple of weeks ago winning the Asian Junior Championships in Jakarta with a 8.05m personal best, his first 8m jump of career, added four centimetre to his PB winning with 8.09m. Sun Xiongfeng was a close second with an 8.08m personal best.
Either Sun or Weng will probably compete in Beijing because the two A-standard athletes, Zhou Can and Li Runrun (both 8.22m in 2007) have not impressed this season. Zhou has not competed at all and Li was 12th at the Olympic Trials only managing an 7.56m result.
On form guide, Asian record holder looks set to miss Games
In the women’s 3000m Steeplechase, 17-year-old Zhao Yanni won with a personal best 9:43.60 which is also the A-standard for the Olympics. Asian record holder Liu Nian was second in 9:50.92. Five Chinese athletes have achieved the A-standard and only three can compete. AR holder Liu Nian will have a hard time making the team because she is only the fifth fastest Chinese this season.
18-year-old Huang Meiling won the women’s 400m final in a modest 53.81secs and Wang Liangyu won the men’s race in 46.82sseason’s best. Wang achieved Olympic B-standard 45.95s last season, but the only Chinese to start in the Beijing 400m will probably be Liu Xiaosheng who has achieved the standard this season too with a 45.90 run.
The five best 110m hurdlers were absent from this meet where Huang Hao won the final in 13.82 secs. 18-year-old Jiang Fan was second, equalling his personal best 13.83 and Yan Xu set a new PB 13.85 for third place. Reigning Olympic champion Liu Xiang will be joined by Shi Dongpeng and Ji Wei in Beijing.
Liu Jing won the women’s 100m Hurdles in 13.21secs.
Xie Limei won the women’s Triple Jump with a 14.07m jump and will be the only Chinese to compete in this event at the Olympics, however, while Ma Xuejun won the women’s Discus Throw with 58.14m, she will not compete in Beijing because the three best were not competing here. Sun Taifeng, Song Aimin and Li Yanfeng will take their places at the Olympics.
Qi Haifeng back from injuries
Wang Guangfu won the men’s Shot Put with a 18.61m toss, and national record holder Qi Haifeng came back to win the Decathlon with an 7801 points total to book his place on the Olympic team.
Qi has been hampered by injuries lately and has been really far away from his top form (8290 NR 2005), but is now slowly coming back. In 2007 he only managed a best of 7284p. Qi finished in 18th place in Athens 2004. His best major championships result is 7th place at the 2003 World Championships in Paris.
Couple of low key finals were dropped off yesterday’s report. 100m finals were on day one with Yin Hualong winning the men’s race in 10.51secs and Ha Xianping was fastest in the women’s race with 11.77. The best Chinese sprinters are competing in the Asian Grand Prix meetings looking to qualify for the Beijing relays.
Mirko Jalava for the IAAF
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